


Forever

by aphenglandstan



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, multi-chapter, pen pal au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-10 16:26:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17429411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphenglandstan/pseuds/aphenglandstan
Summary: Alfred is assigned a pen pal project to bring up his sinking grades.





	1. Grades are not a Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be multi-chaptered. Sometimes I don't have enough inspiration to write a oneshot, but I still want to make you guys content. To solve my dilemma, I'll just try to update this fic when that happens. I think I won't update this one on Tumblr, because multi-chaptered fics are hard to keep track of on there. Hope you enjoy.

I clicked my pen on my thigh for what might’ve been the fifteenth time, gaining me annoyed glances from the kids sitting near me. Professor Beilschmidt continued to drone on about geography, which didn’t have anything to do with actual history. It was just rivers and how flat the land was. It was boring, to say the least. I could get all of the notes from someone else later and there wasn’t anywhere that I would need to use it.

When the bell finally rang, I let out a quiet sigh of relief, slipping out of my seat.

“Mr. Jones.” The sound of Professor B. calling me snapped me back into reality. “May I speak to you for a moment? It won’t take long at all.”

I mentally winced, knowing that any time a teacher asked to speak after class, it only meant disaster. “Sure, Professor Beilschmidt.”

“Alfred, you seem to be falling behind in my classes.” He lowered his glasses to look me better in the eyes, but I avoided his gaze.

“Sorry, professor. I understand and I’ll do better from now on.” I fed him some line that practically every high schooler has had to utter at one point or another in their life.

“Alfred, I don’t think that you do understand. Your grade is really sinking. You’re going to need to do some extra credit work for me.”  
I tried not to groan. “What will I have to do?”

“Well, you’re not behind by just a few points, Alfred. You’re going to need to do something big. I have an idea, but you’ll have to really work for it.” He rubbed his chin, taking a stack of papers out of his desk.

“What is it, Professor? I’ll really do anything to get my grade up,” I managed to stutter out, sitting embarrassed under his harsh stare. I crossed my fingers behind my back, wishing for something that wouldn’t be too much real work. Maybe just to tell him how the land looked around D.C. or something like that. I could just write that it’s mostly flat, with some hills north and stuff. It would be easy and I would get back to my normal passing grades.

He made sure that his papers stayed in a tidy, even stack as he looked through them. “Well, my only suggestion here is for you to have a pen pal from a different country. You two could talk to each other about the history, culture, and geography of your unique nations, along with how it’s different to live there than it is to live here and vice versa. Now, I won’t make you do it all on paper and wait weeks to get responses from each other. I’ll set up an email account for you to use strictly to talk to your pen pal. Once you two have had about a month of chatting, you can make a presentation about the country that they’re from. The history, culture, geography. Really everything that you learned from your pen pal. In your presentation, you will use a tri-folding display board. On it, you will put screenshots of things that your pen pal said about their nation, along with two paragraphs describing what you learned.”

It wasn’t the worst assignment that he could have given me. Maybe I’d get some hot foreign girl.

“And your pen pal going to be a young man like you, so you won’t have a chance for any funny business.” Professor B. wagged his finger at me.  
I barely held back a smirk. What a time to be bi and alive. “Of course, Professor Beilschmidt.” I gave him a smile.

“So what country do you want your pen pal to be from? I can try to see if I can get someone from your preferred country.”

I thought about it for a minute. If I picked someone from a country that spoke some other language, I would probably have to talk about that in my project. Plus, they might not be the best at English.

“Oh, well… maybe someone from England," I finally commented

“I think I know just the person! I’ll give you your email address and password for the assignment tomorrow. I hope that this gives you a chance to research English culture and maybe even make a friend.”

“Okay. Thank you, Professor Beilschmidt.” I left the classroom, heart sinking. Although the pen pal project wasn’t the worst thing I could’ve gotten, it was still more homework. And likely, my partner would be some boring snob. But I never could’ve known what had lied ahead.


	2. Talking to People is Hard, Even if it's just Over the Internet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred finally emails his pen pal. Texting fun, and misunderstandings ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had to research whether Arthur would refer to his height in centimeters or feet and inches. This chapter goes out to me, because two chapters in two days. I'm on a roll.

The next day, Professor B. gave me the email address after class. I reluctantly decided to make the first move, even though I knew nothing about the other kid.

I shot him a quick email once I got home after school. _‘Hey, I’m Alfred. I’m your American pen pal. Feel free to talk to me about whatever. Whenever you feel like it. :).’_

I got an almost instant reply.

_‘Nice to meet you, Alfred. I’m Arthur Kirkland. As you likely know, I’m English. I do truly yearn for us to get along well. Since I’m assuming we must be learning about each other, I will ask you a question here. What are you like, Alfred? You can describe yourself or send a picture. Either is fine. I would just like to know **who** I’m talking to. I know you’re Alfred, but what does Alfred look like? What makes Alfred tick?’ _

I groaned as I read it. Arthur sounded like a pretentious bastard. But an assignment’s an assignment. And maybe he wouldn’t be too bad.

I considered sending a picture. It wouldn’t be too much work to touch it up to make myself look better. I eventually decided to just send a description, but fixed a picture of myself as well. If he sent a picture of himself, I would send mine. _‘Well, my full name is Alfred F. Jones. I’m sixteen. I have honey blond hair and blue eyes. I like McDonald’s and Burger King, but my mom’s cooking is really good, too. I might send a picture of myself later on in our friendship. You’ll have to talk to me more to really get to know what makes me tick, haha.’_

He replied just as quickly as he did before. _‘I’m seventeen. I’m also blond, but my hair is a quite fair shade. My eyes are green. I rather enjoy fish and chips. Cooking is one of my hobbies. I will send a picture of myself if/when you send one of you. If you’re going to be secretive about the inner workings of your brain, I will as well.’_

I mean, maybe the vibes I got from his first message were wrong. Maybe British people just sounded pretentious. Most of the British people I saw on TV had that feeling to them.  
I thought long and hard before I typed my reply. I wanted to make a good impression. Even if we’d already sent a few messages, I felt like I hadn’t really made any kind of impression on him. My introduction was forgettable.

Once I came up with something that sounded normal, I sent it to him. _‘So I think it’s my turn to ask questions now. When’s your birthday? How tall are you? What’s your favorite color? And are you more introvert or extrovert?’_

It took him a few minutes to reply. Maybe because of the length of his reply. _‘Well, to start, April 23rd is my birthday. I’m glad that there’s only three months until then, because that means that all of my brothers will be forced to spend their money to buy me presents. Plus, I’ll get to legally drink as much as I want. I’m 5’8. My favorite color is either green or blue. Definitely a cold color, either way. Maybe teal? I’m definitely more of an introvert. People are okay sometimes, but I would much rather curl up with a good book, or even a movie if it’s enjoyable. But when I do find someone who I like, I like to spend a lot of time alone with them. How about you?’_

I answered the questions simply, taking no time at all to send something back. _‘My birthday is the Fourth of July! It’s super cool, because that’s also a kickass American holiday. There’s always a ton of fireworks on my birthday. I’m 5’11. My favorite color’s red. I would have to say that I’m more of an extrovert. I’m a party animal at heart.’_

He shot back a reply, almost instantly. _‘Don’t say kickass. Also, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s your number?’_

It didn’t seem like he would be the kind to get upset by cursing, but I didn’t mind. I sent him my number, because texting was easier than emailing. About a minute later, I got a text.

_‘Is this Alfred?’_

I replied almost instantly. _‘Yeah, it’s me. Is that you, Arthur?’_

_‘Yes. Just in case you didn’t notice, your teacher gave you the email address and password. Am I correct?’_ Despite the fact that it was a text, I could sense the smugness radiating from the text. 

Nonetheless, I replied. _‘Correct. It’s an assignment, after all.’_

_‘So maybe you should think about the fact that our teachers probably check the emails. If you have anything personal or otherwise queer to tell me, do it over text.’_ I hadn’t thought about it like that, but he was probably right. Professor B. did tend to keep an eye on his students, including me.

I re-read his last sentence a few times before I texted back. _‘Are you?’_

_‘Am I what?’_ He responded.

_‘Queer’_

I watched the screen intently until his next message popped up.

_‘Truly, in both meanings of the word.’_

I felt my face heat up with blush. He just meant weird. He just meant that if I had anything weird to tell him, I should do it over text. 

_‘I just realized that you probably meant weird. Sorry for assuming stuff, Arthur. That was really weird of me to ask, especially since we barely know each other.’_

_‘It’s fine, Alfred. I’m not closeted or anything. It’s practically common knowledge about me.’_

_‘I’m bi.’_

_‘Good for you. Now it’s late in England, so I’ll be going to bed. Good night, Alfred.’_

_‘Good night Arthur. Sleep well.’_

I laid my head down on the table. What had I gotten myself into?


End file.
